1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to land vehicles of the type broadly considered to be skates, which can be defined as devices to be secured to the feet of the rider whereby he may propel himself over land, ice or snow. The invention is particularly directed to shoe attaching means of the type referred to as ski fasteners, which are more commonly referred to in the art of skiing as ski bindings. According to the present invention, a ski binding may be of substantially any description but may consist of toe and heel fasteners. The binding is mounted on a common support plate or first element, wherein the plate is movable or releasable from the ski. A second element installed on the ski mates with the first element in response to compressive forces applied between them. The invention provides the ability to install and remove one's ski bindings from various sets of ski's without the use of hand tools.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Conventional ski bindings are used to attach a pair of ski boots to a pair of alpine skis. These bindings generally have a mounting area that creates a large flat spot in the natural bending arc of the ski. This flat area can be in excess twenty linear inches along the length of the ski. This area can degrade the cutting effect in the turning pattern of the ski while a skier is attempting to make an aggressive turn. When the skier applies force while turning, the ski is bent into an arc by three points on the ski: the tip, the tail, and the middle. The flattened area will create a scrub portion that is not in line with the rest of the natural arc. This scrub degrades the ability of the skier to make the tightest, most accurate turn possible. This scrub also creates a loss of energy and forward momentum.
Conventional ski bindings are generally used at fairly high speeds, on a variety of terrain. In certain situations, the ski can vibrate and generate a bounding effect that the skier feels. There are no vibration-damping systems incorporated into modern ski binding systems. When vibration is encountered on choppy terrain, it can cause numbness, fatigue, and pain to the skier. The bouncing affect can also cause ski chatter, where portions of the ski are not cutting into the snow, which results in a loss of traction and hinders the skier from performing an accurate, efficient, and safe turn.
Generally, conventional ski bindings are permanently mounted to a set of skis. A ski binding is quite costly, with cost increasing with quality and protective ability. As bindings are designed to protect the skier from injury, the skier has strong motivation to purchase highest quality, most expensive binding he can afford. When a skier purchases a new set of skis, he has the option to reuse his old set of bindings by transferring them to his new set of skis. This option results in the old set of skis having no bindings and for that reason becoming worthless. The skier's other option is to purchase a new set of bindings, which then are permanently mounted to the new set of skis. This option can be costly and, of course, results in the new set of bindings being permanently committed to the new set of skis. A set of ski bindings must be accurately mounted to a pair of skis in order to use them safely. Installing or transferring a set of bindings tends to be a professional job for a technician at a ski shop, using proper tools, which adds both monetary cost and significant time delay to any installation. Current bindings are meant to be affixed in a manner such that the skier, himself, does not have the ready ability to swap them from one set of skis to another. The practical result of the current situation is that a skier must have a number of ski bindings equal to the quantity of his functional skis.
A typical ski is manufactured with a set camber. This curvature profile dictates the overall handling characteristics of the ski. There are currently no methods in place to alter this manufactured profile, to thereby change the handling characteristics of the ski. Current ski models are designed with one specific profile for one specific type of skiing/terrain.
It would be desirable to create an engagement between a ski binding and ski that substantially eliminates the scrub portion of the ski's curvature during turns. According to the invention, this can be achieved by mounting a ski binding to a ski via an intermediate binding mounting plate that is connected to the ski on a footprint that is substantially shorter than the length of the binding. The shorter footprint results in a reduced length of the scrub portion.
It would also be desirable to create a ski binding that is capable of selectively controlling vibration and bounce in the operational characteristics of a ski. It would further be desirable to enable the vibration and bounce control system to be variable in effect, to be adaptable to skis of different performance characteristics. According to the invention, this can be achieved by employing an intermediate binding mounting plate to carry the binding and to be mounted to the ski on a shorter footprint than the length of the binding. The binding mounting plate provides end portions beyond the small footprint, and these end portions can be mounts or holders for vibration damping elements.
It would be desirable to create a ski binding that is capable of selectively altering the handling characteristics of a ski. More specifically, it would be desirable to create a ski binding that can selectively alter the camber of a ski. According to the invention, this can be achieved by employing an intermediate binding mounting plate to carry the binding and to be mounted to the ski on a shorter footprint than the length of the binding. The binding mounting plate provides end portions beyond the small footprint, and these end portions can be mounts or holders for camber altering elements.
Finally, it would be desirable to create a quick release mounting device that permits quick mounting of a binding onto a ski, and quick release of a binding from a ski. Such a quick release mounting device would enable an entire binding to be moved from one pair of skis to another, preferably in a short time frame such as a minute or less, and preferable without the use of tools.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the method and apparatus of this invention may comprise the following.